Silvertips’ Constantine intrigued by WSU’s ‘mad scientist’ Leach
Published 9:30 pm Wednesday, November 23, 2016
EVERETT — Kevin Constantine spent three years as the head coach of the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros from 2007-10 following his first stint with the Everett Silvertips.
During that time a man on the other side of the state was piling up yards through the air at levels rarely seen in college football while coaching the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Fast-forward more than a half-decade and Constantine is back behind the bench in Everett and a Mike Leach team is once again putting up historic numbers in the air across the state, this time as head coach of the No. 23 Washington State Cougars.
Constantine said he and Leach have never met, but the Tips head coach finds the creator of Air Raid offense fascinating.
“He’s kind of the mad scientist of offensive creation in the (NCAA),” Constantine said. “So just that term alone, ‘mad scientist,’ is instantly intriguing to me as a coach. Trying to figure out and explore anything and everything in a way of accomplishing something in sports is very intriguing.”
Like Leach, Constantine has built a successful coaching career by observing, listening, tinkering and experimenting. The WSU head coach, whose team takes on No. 6 Washington for the Pac-12 North title Friday in Pullman, actually graduated from law school before entering the coaching profession — a fact that Constantine admires.
“When I say the ‘lawyer’ part of it I mean the analysis of what a lawyer’s mind is — all the contingencies,” Constantine said. “To me that’s what lawyering is, imagining every contingency and that’s a bit of sports. ‘If this is going to happen repeatedly what’s the plan for that?’”
Constantine inherited a team that had gone 25-40-3-4 and finished last in the U.S. Division when he returned for his second go-around in 2013. In Constantine’s three years back in Everett, the Tips have won one division title and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals the past two seasons. This year the Tips are off to their best start since winning the Scotty Munro Trophy as regular-season WHL champions during the 2006-07 season.
Likewise, Leach has now taken a WSU program that hadn’t been to a bowl game a decade prior to his arrival to bowl eligibility for the third time in his five years as head coach. In fact, a win for WSU Friday would propel the Cougars to their first North Division title since the Pac-10 became the Pac-12 and split into two divisions in 2011.
“He’s had the ability in my mind to go to programs and make programs better than what they are traditionally or routinely and so that speaks to something,” Constantine said. “I don’t know much about how he coaches. It’s just where he goes they seem to be able to have ‘X’ happen. If Mike Leach goes there, there is going to be some offense. How he does that I don’t know, but I find that intriguing.”
The Everett coaching staff spent a memorable day prior to the 2015-16 season attending a Seattle Seahawks practice and meeting with head coach Pete Carroll. It was educational for the Silvertips mentors, but also partly an exercise in the brotherhood that all coaches enjoy, regardless of the sport or the level.
“When you coach you feel part of a fraternity with people because you go through similar challenges,” Constantine said. “I like coaches because I know what they go through, the good and bad of the business, the challenges and so I enjoy it.”
Might Constantine and assistants Brennan Sonne and Mitch Love pile into the car for the five-hour trip to the Palouse next summer? Don’t count it out if they are invited.
“If I could go to two days of Washington State practice and listen to the meetings that would be a dream come true for me,” Constantine said. “That’s about as enjoyable an experience as I can have — watching someone else do their work.”
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